New tech support scam malware fakes Blue Screen of Death

The infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is one of the most-dreaded sights for Windows users.

Adding insult to injury, a new malware is making the rounds that fakes a BSOD, and then tries to swindle victims into paying for tech support tools.

According to Malwarebytes, the malware, appropriately dubbed Troubleshooter, announces itself with a faux BSOD that appears to lock out the user. Then, a “troubleshooting wizard” pops up, masquerading as a Windows utility. It detects “issues” on the PC, and then recommends that the victim pony up $25 via PayPal to buy a package called Windows Defender Essentials to take care of them.

The malware disables shortcut keys, so that users can’t close the pop-up windows. It also takes a screenshot of the user’s desktop and sends it to a remote IP address. If a victim pays the $25, they are redirected to a “thank you” webpage and the malware is terminated. However, users can also fix the problem for free by rebooting the PC into Safe Mode and then removing the file.

A new malware masquerading as the infamous Blue Screen of Death tries to swindle victims into paying for tech support tools.